


NOT a Damsel

by awyeahjimin



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Assault, Fluff, Harassment, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Police, Stalking, Violence, ateez goes clubbing, i meant this to be fluff but now look at the tags, san kicks ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:33:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awyeahjimin/pseuds/awyeahjimin
Summary: One shots of omega!ateez NOT being a damsel in distress.ORI love reading fics where alphas swoop in and save their omega so here is my contribution.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 101
Kudos: 616
Collections: 에이티즈





	1. Yunho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't write about any Jisung in particular. I don't stan any groups with a Jisung so I'm sorry if I made your fave an asshole on accident.

A combination of factors led Yunho to be in his current situation. 

He and Mingi had decided to leave the dorm to go shopping for some new clothes. It was just an excuse to go out and do something together really. Their schedule had been pretty busy lately and they had the next couple days off before things got busy again. They didn’t want to waste it just laying in the dorm, even if that was Mingi’s favorite thing to do.

The two had been shopping for a couple hours already, hitting a couple different stores in the shopping district before going to the mall. Yunho had found a couple things he liked enough to buy and decided to stop there before his wallet cried too much.

So now he was sat on a bench outside some store Mingi had wanted to go in, playing on his phone when he noticed someone approaching.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Yunho looked up to see a man standing in front of him. The stranger looked to be a bit shorter than him, and had striking features. Black hair and dark eyes on porcelain skin, a waft of air from a passerby letting Yunho know he was an alpha from the musky pine scent. He was wearing a black apron over a generic white button up and black slacks. Yunho put the pieces together when he looked behind the stranger and saw a kiosk with beauty products on it. This guy must be a salesman. 

“Would you like to try some free samples? It’s all organic and vegan lotions, face masks, and bath products.” The guy said cheerily. 

Yunho weighed his options. Mingi would probably be in the store for a while more and it wasn’t like Yunho had to buy anything from this guy. Why not get some free bougie lotion out of it?

“Sure, why not?” Yunho agreed, returning the salesman’s smile and following him over to the little kiosk. There was an assortment of colorful bath bombs and bowls of natural looking face masks. 

“You have really nice skin already so I think something more invigorating will suit you best. Try this, it’s our citrus scrub. Just put a bit on the back of your hand and scrub gently.” Before Yunho could agree or decline the alpha is taking his hand and dipping it in a bowl of water then putting some of the bright orange scrub on the back of his hand. Yunho internally cringes at the unexpected contact with the stranger but goes along with it. The guy is just doing his job, trying to sell this stuff. Scrubbing the paste onto his hand, it feels okay, definitely meant as an exfoliant though so it’s a little rough on his skin. It starts to tingle pleasantly after a few seconds.

“It goes well with your natural sweet scent,” The salesperson comments after not so subtly scenting the air around Yunho.

“It tingles,” Yunho comments off handedly. 

“Yeah it’s one of our products that’s meant to stimulate your senses,” the salesman says, a flash of something passing through his eyes that Yunho doesn’t quite catch. “I have a couple of other things that can do that for you too.”

“Like what?” Yunho replies distractedly, reading an information card for a bath bomb with a scent that reminds him of Mingi’s. It’s a warm brown and says it has coco butter in it to soften the skin. It’s been a long time since Yunho has had a bath but the thought of literally bathing in something like Minig’s scent is making him consider cramming all six feet one inches of himself into their bathtub.

Yunho realizes that the salesman was talking to him when he registers a pause and the expectant silence of the salesman. 

“Uhhh sorry I zoned out, what?” Yunho said, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks. 

The salesman chuckled, “It’s okay, I just said that my name is Jisung, what’s yours?”

“Oh, my name is Yunho,” the omega replied simply, rinsing the orange scrub off his hand. It was still a little tingly in the way that eating something mint makes you feel tingly, his skin a little extra sensitive to the cool water in the bowl. 

“You’re pretty tall for an omega aren’t you?” Jisung states, staring at the him. 

Yunho is taken aback a bit. It’s not an unusual statement, it’s one he gets quite often actually. It’s just the forthrightness with which this salesman says it that took Yunho off guard.

“Yeah I’m six foot one. No I’ve never played basketball. Yes I know that’s a waste.” Yunho replies a little dryly.

“I guess by your response that you get that a lot?” Jisung replied, not deterred at all, still sounding as chipper as he had when he approached Yunho on the bench. 

“At least three times a week since I presented,” Yunho says, laughing a little.

“Ah, well sorry I was that person,” Jisung says, playfully remorseful. The quickly changing topics,” Here, try this one, it’s orange blossom and honey.”

Before Yunho knows it Jisung is squeezing some lotion onto the back of his hand and massaging it into his skin. Yunho feels something twist uncomfortably in him at having a strange alpha touch him like that, but Yunho shakes it off. This is Jisung’s job, to sell this lotion. Yunho is sure he rubs lotion into a lot of people’s hands every day. 

However, the alpha’s hands are lingering a little too long for Yunho’s comfort. The lotion has been rubbed in well enough but Jisung’s is still massaging at Yunho’s palm and knuckles an unnecessary amount. Right before Yunho could pull his hand away in discomfort Jisung was letting go. 

Yunho was starting to get a creeping feeling like this guy didn’t just want him to buy some fancy lotion or body scrub.

“See how well it moisturizes? How does it feel?” Jisung asks. Yunho looks at the alpha and is surprised by how close he is, not overtly in Yunho’s personal space but definitely too close for the professional interaction. The omega mentally shakes himself. No reason to make this weird. Jisung is just a salesperson doing his job. He can’t help that he’s an alpha, Yunho needs to stop reading too much into the guy’s behavior. 

“It’s… alright. I don’t really know about the orange scented stuff though. I feel like I make that enough myself so I don’t really smell it as much since it gets mixed up in my natural scent. I do like cinnamon scented stuff though.” Yunho offers. “Like this,” Yunho picks up the bath bomb he had been eyeing earlier and holds it out to Jisung. 

“Ahhh, I see. You like something a little spicier.” Jisung’s eyes are attempting something Yunho doesn’t understand so he just politely smiles in agreeance. The omega is starting to get a bit of a creeper vibe from this guy, but doesn’t want to assume anything bad of him. He hasn’t really done anything too horribly creepy. Yet.

Just as Yunho is about to reach for a mud mask to read the label, the salesman is grabbing his only unaccosted hand and dabbing a generous amount of lotion onto it. 

“I think you’ll really like this one, it’s popular among many of our omega clients because it smells a bit like an alpha.” Jisung comments as he get to work rubbing it into Yunho’s skin. The lotion smells dizzingly of pine, pretty similar to the salesman’s scent actually. Yunho isn’t a huge fan of it and distinctly remembers asking for cinnamon.

“I don’t really like this one…” Yunho trails off, trying to pull his hand from Jisung’s. The alpha only redoubles his efforts and holds more tightly, fingers digging into the omega’s soft palm. Yunho winces a little at the treatment, alarm bells faintly starting to go off. 

“You know, you’re a really gorgeous omega. Even though you’re tall you have such an innocent face. So agreeable too.” Jisung says quietly in a rumbling voice. This is when Yunho feels the panic starting to set in. He doesn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of that mall but he also wants to get the hell away from this guy.

“I have an alpha already.” Yunho blurts. He hates that another alpha’s presence is more of a deterrent than if he were to outwardly reject this guy, but now is not the time to be an omega activist. He just wants to be away from this alpha.

“He’s not like me. I’ll treat a big bitch like you how you need to be treated. Make you get on your hands and knees and beg for it.” Jisung’s fingers are not digging painfully into Yunho’s hand, and Yunho can smell how the alpha is trying to release dominating pheromones to make him submit.

“Let go of me!” Yunho shouts ripping his hand from Jisung’s. Yunho sees the alpha’s eyes darken. 

“I see your current alpha hasn’t taught you your place.” Yunho is frozen in place as the alpha’s eyes harden and his face turns red with anger.

Suddenly, Yunho is pushed backwards and a mass is in front of him. The omega stumbles a little but is wrenched upright from falling by a familiar hand. Mingi’s hand.

Yunho feels like he could cry in relief. 

“Try it you fucker.” A vicious growl rips from Mingi’s throat.

“Oh are you the alpha that this bitch was talking about?” Jisung mocks, though his face had paled some. 

“I saw what the fuck you were doing. How dare you touch him like that. How dare you speak to him like that.” Mingi spat. Yunho could smell the enraged alpha pheromones rolling off him, and could see Jisung puffing up to challenge.

“M-Mingi, please let’s go. I don’t want you to get in trouble. It’s not worth it.” Yunho gently pulled at Mingi’s arm. The alpha was tense and had drawn up to his full height. He looked pretty imposing and the fact that Jisung still chose to let off the challenging pheromones meant that he was either full of himself or just plain stupid. 

“It’s not worth it? He wouldn’t let you go! He said such disgusting things to you!” Another growl ripped itself from Mingi when he thought about it again. The alpha’s body tensed further and he moved his body more in front of Yunho, shielding the omega from the challenger alpha with his body.

Yunho’s eyes darted to their surrounding and saw a couple mall security guards edging towards them among the small crowd of spectators that had gathered. They really could get into trouble if this turned into a full out alpha fight in the middle of the mall. Yunho hadn’t seen Mingi this angry or territorial before so he wasn’t exactly sure of what to do, but he knows he needs to deescalate this situation somehow.

“Mingi please, let’s just get out of here and go to the car.” Yunho murmured, focusing on releasing a calming scent. “I’ll be upset if you get into a fight. Let’s just go.” The omega leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to the side of Mingi’s neck. Maybe a little too much of a display for in public but he rathered being a little gross to Mingi getting in a fight and arrested. 

To his relief, Yunho felt Mingi relax just slightly at his touch.

“You’re lucky my omega is so nice,” Mingi spat, and before he could change his mind, turned and walked away with Yunho pulled close into his side.

“I didn’t want that freakishly tall cunt anyways! He threw himself at me! I hope you enjoy that whore!” Jisung called after them.

Yunho could feel Mingi’s steps stutter as the alpha almost turned around to face the challenger again but Yunho tightened his arm around Mingi’s waist and hauled him towards the car. 

As soon as they made it out of the mall doors and into the fresh air Mingi whipped around and made Yunho face him, eyes scrutinizing every inch of the omega.

“Are you okay?” Mingi asked. 

“Other than being generally grossed out and harassed, I’m fine,” Yunho replied. Honestly he felt rattled and more than a little grossed out, but he was trying to avoid those feelings right now while they were in public and he wasn’t entirely convinced Mingi wouldn’t run back in and beat Jisung’s ass. 

Mingi pursed his lips and Yunho could see that the alpha wasn’t buying it.

“Just… can we just go home?” Yunho asked softly.

Yunho saw Mingi’s eyes soften and the alpha leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the omega’s forehead. “Of course baby. Of course.”

The ride home was mostly silent and when they entered the dorm Yunho was praying that Seonghwa wouldn’t be in the living room, but of course, the gods were against him and the black haired omega was sitting on the couch. 

“Hey guys how was sho-“ Seonghwa didn’t even get through the whole sentence before his eyes were narrowing and staring intensely at the two. “Are you guys okay? What happened?” 

Yunho cursed Seonghwa’s weird motherly sixth sense. The last thing he wanted to do right now was explain the whole thing to someone and hear about how naïve he had been. 

“We are fine Seonghwa. Give us a while before the inquisition okay? I think Yunho needs some time to decompress.” Mingi interjected.

Seonghwa’s eyes narrowed for a moment before softening. “Just so you guys are okay. I’ll bring you something to eat in a little bit, how does that sound?” 

“Sounds good,” Yunho agreed. He was eager to get into his and Mingi’s room, he could feel the residual panic creeping up his spine and wanted to be somewhere private when it made it’s way out again.

Seonghwa just nodded and gave Yunho a soft and reassuring smile that made the omega want to hiccup a sob right there. Mingi steered him into their room and Yunho threw himself into the bathroom immediately. Vigorously scrubbing at his hands with way too much soap. It felt like he could still feel Jisung’s hands on his and the scent of pine wafting from the lotion wasn’t helping the nausea churning in Yunho’s stomach.

When Yunho was satisfied that he had removed all of the lotion from his hands he shut off the water and wandered back out into the main bedroom. 

“Here I got these for you to change into,” Mingi said, holding out Yunho’s favorite longsleeve and sweatpants of Mingi’s. The alpha only usually put up with him stealing his stuff when Yunho was in pre-heat, so for the alpha to be offering up his stuff so readily had tears pricking at the corner of the omega’s eyes.

“Thank you,” Yunho said in a small voice, taking the offered clothes and quickly changing into them. Mingi took that time to also change into comfier clothes and soon enough they were cuddled together in bed, Mingi allowing Yunho to scent at his neck, releasing comforting alpha pheromones and rumbling low in his throat.

Yunho basked in the warm cinnamon scent of Mingi. The alpha smelled like home, smelled like safety and security and love. It helped to ease the ball of anxiety in Yunho’s gut. Yunho buried his face in Mingi’s neck and deeply inhaled, the alpha holding him securely close as Yunho fought down the disgust and panic.

“I’m sorry,” Yunho mumbled out.

“For what?” Mingi asked, confused. 

“For talking to that guy. If I hadn’t of gone over to there none of this would have happened.” Yunho lamented. He was so stupid sometimes. He just wanted to believe the best in people and look where it got him. 

He felt Mingi’s arms tighten around him. “Yunho it’s not your fault. You’re allowed to exist in public. He’s the one that was wrong.” Mingi’s voice was firm and one of the alpha’s large hands was rubbing comforting circles on the omega’s back.

Yunho frowned a little at the reply but didn’t say anything, just thought about it and willed himself to relax into the alpha’s hold. 

“Can we just, not talk about it for a little bit? I want to take a break.” Yunho asked, meeting Mingi’s eyes. 

“Of course baby, you want to watch something? Maybe nap until Seonghwa brings us food?” The alpha offered and Yunho just nodded silently into Mingi’s chest. The alpha dragged his laptop over to them and brought up an episode of a sitcom they had been rewatching. Exactly what Yunho wanted, something mindless and wholesome. 

Mingi’s hands ran soothing circles on Yunho’s back and the omega could feel the tense panic that had been bubbling up in his chest loosen. He relaxed bonelessly into his alpha’s hold and did his best to ground himself in the moment. Taking in slow deep breaths of Mingi’s spicy cinnamon scent and exhaling deliberately, he focused on the feeling of the soft covers around him and Mingi’s firm body underneath his, the alpha’s warm and gentle hands on his back.

They made it through three episodes of the show like that before there was a gentle knock on the door.

“It’s Seonghwa, I have food,” the omega called through the door.

“Come in,” Mingi replied.

The door clicked open to reveal Seonghwa holding a couple bowls with a comforting smelling stew in it. The two in bed rustled around to a sitting up position as Seonghwa made his way over to hand them the bowls and then sit cross legged at the end of their bed.

“Is everything alright with you two?” Seonghwa asked, brow furrowed in concern. 

“Well. I almost got in a fight in the mall,” Mingi started sheepishly.

Seonghwa’s eyebrows rose in alarm, “What?”

“Some asshole was being creepy towards Yunho and outright challenged me in the middle of the mall when I told him to knock it off,” Mingi said, a little anger making its way back into his scent at the memory. 

Seonghwa frowned and turned his eyes towards Yunho. Seonghwa’s eyes were soft and compassionate, something that made Yunho’s bottom lip wobble as he felt tears burn in his eyes. Seonghwa always had such a gentle way of understanding with just a look that made Yunho feel so cared for he had no choice other than to cry.

“Aw, Yunho don’t cry,” Seonghwa said, smiling slightly as he leaned forward and brushed a tear from the other omega’s cheek. Seonghwa’s floral rose scent flooded Yunho’s senses and it only served to make the tears fall faster. Yunho associated the other omega’s scent with so many late night talks and gentle comforts, it made him feel so vulnerable but safe at the same time. 

“It-it was so scary! I didn’t even realize he was being creepy until way too late! I’m so stupid! And then Mingi almost got into a fight and then mall security came!” Yunho was blabbering through the tears as Mingi cradled him to his side and Seonghwa held his hands, rubbing soothing circles on the backs of them with his thumbs.

Yunho hiccupped a little and nuzzled his face into Mingi’s shoulder, not so subtly wiping his nose there to which Mingi made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. Then Yunho was rubbing his cheek against Seonghwa’s hand. It was the kind of familiar scenting all the members did with each other all the time, marking each other as family.

“Sorry for that,” Yunho apologized again, feeling a little embarrassed for crying so much.

“Don’t be sorry, we’re here for you when you need to cry Yunho,’ Seonghwa replied. 

Yunho smiled happily at the reassurance from the other omega. Being comforted by Mingi was nice, his favorite really, but there was just something about the reassuring presence of another omega, especially Seonghwa, that just really helped to settle Yunho. 

“So what are we watching?” Seonghwa said, sliding up the mattress to settle in on Yunho’s other side.

“What?” Yunho asked, a little confused.

“What you don’t want me to hang out with you?” Seonghwa asked, fake hurt in his voice.

“Ah no that’s not it! You don’t have to sit with me just because I cried hyung.”

“Yunho not everything is about you crying,” Seonghwa teased, “I just wanna spend some time with you two, that’s all.”

Yunho saw the explanation for what it was, a cover up for Seonghwa to keep mothering him. To be honest though, Yunho liked it when Seonghwa mothered them. Not that he would ever admit it to the older omega.

Yunho rolled his eyes playfully, “Sure hyung.” He settled himself more comfortably in between the two and pressed play on the show. 

He couldn’t help the small smile on his face as Mingi and Seonghwa started bickering over something miniscule. A feeling of content and rightness settled over him and Yunho reveled in the knowledge that he would always have these two, plus the rest of the members, to lean on when he needs them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do i have 6 papers due by next Friday? Yes.  
> Did I write this instead of beginning any of those papers? Also yes.  
> RIP me
> 
> This is definitely a complete self indulgence. I love this whole trope and I will die before I stop writing it into literally everything I write. So I took it a step farther this time and am just making it the whole fic. Probs no smut in this one, but who knows, keep an eye on that rating.
> 
> I always write Yunho so soft T.T he is truly the best boi. I need to write something with aggressive Mingi bc that little scene was pretty fun to write.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think and if you like it!


	2. Wooyoung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check the tags on this one guys! If themes of assault bother you then proceed with caution. Nothing too serious happens but just a warning! Do what you need to do to protect yourselves!

Wooyoung loves going to the club. 

He loves every minute of it, from getting ready beforehand to flopping into bed dead tired and sweaty at an ungodly hour of the morning. The loud music, the crush of people, even the disgusting smell of spilled beer and sweat held many fond memories for the omega. When he was just a trainee he and the other trainee omegas would go out and finesse as many unsuspecting alphas out of as many free drinks as possible.

Clubbing had even played a big role in how he and San had gotten together. It was a sacred place.

A sacred, debaucherous, place. 

His experience with the scene had changed a bit when he and San had gotten together. The biggest difference being that Wooyoung didn’t have to deal with as many drunken, obnoxious alphas feeling like they were entitled to something after buying an omega one rum and coke. San loomed over him most of the night, with a possessive hand always around his waist, shooting any other alpha that looked at Wooyoung the wrong way a death glare.

Just thinking about the sharp look in San’s eyes as he glared away another alpha had heat settling in Wooyoung’s gut as he smudged some eyeliner around his eyes. He had pulled out all the stops with his outfit and makeup tonight. Squeezing himself into his tightest, most scandalous pair of black leather pants and unbuttoning his shirt so far you could see the dips of his chest. With critical eyes Wooyoung scanned his face, blending a little more here and there until he had to admit it wasn’t getting any better than this.

Wooyoung knew he could just send San a series of suggestive emojis and have the alpha busting through his door but where was the fun in that? Wooyoung loved the cat and mouse games he and San played, and tonight he was set on being the cat.

Stepping back from the mirror Wooyoung had one last stroke of genius. He pulled a new choker he bought just yesterday from his dresser and fixed it around his neck. It was a thick silver chain and it settled weightily around his throat. Wooyoung appreciated his appearance in front of the mirror and had to admit that he looked damn good. 

“San! I’m ready!” Wooyoung called as he picked up his phone and opened the group chat labeled ‘club cool kids’. It was just him, San, Yunho, Mingi, and Hongjoong, the only ones who still really went out when they had time. Jongho, Yeosang, and Seonghwa never liked going to the club even when they were trainees and definitely didn’t see the purpose in using their nights off to go do it.

Wooyoung shot out a message that he was ready and opened up his camera app to take a couple selfies. Before he could even start to take a them a hand snaked around his waist and pulled him against a firm torso. The warm scent of marshmallow enveloping him as San leaned in and scented at his neck.

“Am I supposed to let you out of the house looking like this?” San rumbled into his ear, catlike eyes meeting Wooyoung’s in the mirror. The omega felt a thrill of excitement run its way through him.

“I don’t think you get to let me do anything, I kind of just do what I want,” Wooyoung purred back. 

San narrowed his eyes and rumbled out a little growl, hand slipping into the open front of Wooyoung’s shirt and brushing his fingers over a sensitive nipple. Goosebumps rose on the omegas skin and he arched his neck, presenting himself to San. 

A loud knock at the door interrupted the moment. 

“Guys! Stop almost fucking and come out and pregame before the uber gets here!” Mingi’s deep voice called through the door San had stealthily closed when he had entered. 

San rolled his eyes but retracted his hand from Wooyoung’s shirt. He placed a kiss over the omega’s scent gland before stepping back and grabbing Wooyoung’s hand, lacing their fingers together. They walked out to the kitchen together hand in hand and were met with the sight of the rest of the club squad gathered around some shot glasses. 

“How come Mingi and Yunho always manage to not fuck before we go out but you guys are always so thirsty for each other?” Hongjoong complained as he poured out shots of something brown. Wooyoung grimaced, he hates brown liquor. 

“I guess they just don’t have as great of a sex life as we do,” San shrugged and smirked playfully, accepting the shot glass offered to him by Hongjoong. 

“San I’ll have you know that me and Yunho fuck PLENTY,” Mingi practically shouted, Yunho turning crimson and immediately downing his shot.

“Alright, too much information for me on all fronts here,” Hongjoong complained, making a noise as he drank his shot.

They all managed to take a couple shots before the uber arrived and Wooyoung was already starting to feel a pleasant buzz start. Shots were definitely not the classiest thing ever, but they got the job done.

They made it to their favorite club in no time, spilling out of the car excitedly. Wooyoung could hear the thumping bass of the music inside and felt a familiar curl of excitement pool in him. They made it through the line pretty quick and in no time were squirming their way through the crowd and onto the dance floor.

Wooyoung grabbed San’s hand and pulled them to be chest to chest, slotting their lips together in a quick kiss before he started swaying his hips to the music. Club dancing was a whole different animal to their choreographed dancing. Wooyoung was in charge of sexiness for Ateez but what he showed to the camera was nothing compared to him a couple shots in at the club.

He watched as San’s eyes darkened and his hand found a firmer grip on his waist. Wooyoung smirked and felt a wave of satisfaction from the alphas reaction flow through him. 

Suddenly Mingi was in Wooyoung’s field of vision screaming something and miming a drinking motion while pointing in the direction of the bar. San raised his eyebrow at Wooyoung in question and the omega nodded in response. More alcohol would be nice. They had been working hard recently and he wanted to let loose tonight.

San mouthed what looked like “I’ll be right back” and was pushing through the crowd right behind Mingi towards the bar. Wooyoung turned and formed a circle with Yunho and Hongjoong, dancing to some new trap song that the DJ was doing too much remix with. It didn’t matter to Wooyoung though, the music was loud and he was having a good time with friends. That’s all he really asks for.

Wooyoung felt eyes on him and scanned the crowd, quickly picking out where the feeling was coming from. A tall alpha, probably Yunho’s height since he stuck out of the crowd so much, was desperately trying to make eye contact with him. For a fleeting second they did make eye contact but Wooyoung made a point to keep his eyes sliding through the crowd. He had learned the hard way early in his club days that making even two seconds of eye contact was all the invitation most alphas needed. Wooyoung made a mental note to watch out for that guy, but otherwise went back to his carefree dancing with Yunho and Hongjoong.

San and Mingi made it back pretty quickly and San handed an ice cold drink to Wooyoung. He was already sweating profusely so it felt heavenly to have something cold to drink. Wooyoung turned and pressed his back against San. The alpha’s hand not preoccupied with a drink settled on Wooyoung’s hip and the two swayed against each other. 

They danced for a while until they all got too unbearably hot and decided to go sit out in the clubs outdoor seating area. They got lucky and there was a table available which they all quickly claimed.

“I’m not nearly drunk enough,” Yunho declared. 

“That’s because you’re a giant and it takes a whole bottle of vodka to put you down,” Wooyoung replied dryly. 

“You’re just jealous that you’re a lightweight,” Yunho snapped back. “I’m going to go get all of us shots. No one is allowed to opt out. They’re mandatory.” With that Yunho stood and walked off to the bar.

“Who are you calling a light weight!?” Wooyoung yelled after the other omega. “And why did you just walk off alone!”

Wooyoung stood and followed the omega, the alpha’s at the table exchanging bemused glances and shrugging. Finding Yunho wasn’t hard, he was over six feet and had platinum blonde hair. He stood out. Wooyoung quickly caught up with Yunho and yelled at him, “What do you think you’re doing going on a solo shot mission? How were you even going to carry five shots by yourself?”

Yunho shrugged, “I have big hands I would have figured it out.”

Wooyoung rolled his eyes and watched as Yunho ordered their shots. Brown liquor, again.

“Yah, why do you always get whiskey! You know I hate brown liquor!” Wooyoung complained.

“It’s not my fault you drink like a sorority girl on a diet,” Yunho shot back.

Wooyoung gaped at the other omega’s audacity. Excuse him for wanting to get drunk without all the extra calories.

Before he could reply a presence to his side pulled his attention away from his rude friend. Turning his head he saw it was the alpha from earlier. Staring at him with a greasy smile on his face.

“Can I get you and your friend something to drink?” He proposed.

Wooyoung grimaced, “Nah we’re good, thanks.” He made a point to turn back and fully face Yunho.

Then a hand was on his shoulder and was making him turn back around. “Are you sure? A gorgeous omega like you shouldn’t be buying your own drink.”

“Trust me, I’m not. This is my alpha’s card.” Wooyoung flashed his credit card. It wasn’t actually San’s but if it let this weirdo know he was taken that’s what Wooyoung was going to do.

The alpha just narrowed his eyes and let go out Wooyoung’s shoulder and the omega promptly turned back around just in time to see the bartender set the five shots down in front of him and Yunho. Gathering them together in their hands (Wooyoung realized frustratedly that Yunho probably could have carried them all by himself) they quickly made it back to their table outside to see… shots already at the table?

“What?” Wooyoung questioned simply staring from the shots to San.

“One of the employees came around saying they were having a sale so we got some,” Hongjoong shrugged.

Wooyoung quickly resigned himself to the fact that he was going to get pretty drunk tonight. He already had a buzz on and now two more shots. Plus whatever else he was going to drink. 

This was going to be fun.

Grinning, Wooyoung held up his shot prompting the others to follow. “To getting fucked up and friends!”

The other loudly repeated it and they all downed their drinks.

Wooyoung was feeling good. Great really. The lights of the club were blurring together from where they moved and the feeling of San’s body on his own was divine. The bass of the music was thumping through his body and making it move on its’ own accord. 

Wooyoung was very drunk. He had a couple more drinks after the ones they had outside and it went downhill from there. He had grinded shamelessly on San. He had grabbed Yunho and danced so provocatively with the other omega that their respective alpha’s pulled them off of each other, giggling the entire time. He had jumped up onto the DJs podium and had to be yelled at by security and coaxed down by San. He was having a good time.

It must be getting close to closing time though because the crowd had significantly thinned out.

“You guys wanna start heading out?” Hongjoong suggested.

Wooyoung pouted but knew it was probably for the best. Plus, one of the best parts of clubbing nights was falling dead tired into bed and having drunk sex with San. Humming at the thought he turned around and hugged his alpha tightly. He felt the vibrations of a laugh in San’s chest and the alpha pet his hair.

“Probably a good idea,” Wooyoung heard San say.

“Wait! I have to go to the bathroom,” Wooyoung slurred, pulling back from San and tottering in the direction of the restrooms. He heard laughing and figured someone was following him so he just kept going.

He made it to the stall just as he felt his bladder about to burst and reveled in the simple pleasure that was a drunken pee. He closed his eyes and tried to get himself together as the room spun around him. I’m going to have to drink a lot of water when I get home, Wooyoung thought to himself. He’d had to suffer through enough horrible hangovers that drinking water was a self preservation tactic permanently burned into his brain now.

Turning to go wash his hands he started to notice that he wasn’t alone in the bathroom. He focused his eyes harder trying to make out who it was, their hair wasn’t the right color to be Yunho so he must be waiting outside. Squinting, a cold sense of dread seized his muscles as the figure came into focus. It was the alpha from before.

“Why are you in here? This is the omega bathroom.” Wooyoung challenged, trying to minimize his slurring. It was better to start off with an aggressive front than be meek Wooyoung had learned.

“Why are you out getting drunk and dancing like that when you have an alpha?” The alpha questioned back, disgust in his voice. “If you were my omega you definitely wouldn’t be allowed to act like this.”

“Yeah well I’m not your omega so you can fuck off,” Wooyoung replied, washing his hands like he wasn’t concerned about the others presence. Where the hell was any of his friends? If Yunho wasn’t in here with him then that means either Hongjoong, Mingi, or San were standing outside, and no way would they have let an alpha go in the omega restroom.

The alpha made an angry face and growled, raising the hairs on the back of Wooyoung’s neck. His instincts were yelling at him to get out of there, to run away, but he was trapped.

“How dare you speak to an alpha like that you slut,” The alpha spat and advanced on Wooyoung. Wooyoung’s heart rate really started to pick up. This was bad, he was pretty drunk and alone in a bathroom with an angry alpha. An angry alpha that had been eyeing him up all night.

“Stay away from me,” Wooyoung said, trying to sound threatening. He frantically prayed that someone, anyone would walk in right now.

“So that’s how you wanna play it? Act like you don’t want it but then dress and act like that?” The alpha was just steps away from Wooyoung now. Wooyoung could smell his woodfire scent, it burning in the back of his throat, making him want to gag.

Impulsively, Wooyoung made a break for it. He side stepped around the alpha and tried to run as fast as he could toward the exit. Before he made it past the stranger though he felt a hand grab on to his upper arm and yank. Fear pulsed heavily in Wooyoung’s veins, so strong that he felt like he was going to pass out as the alpha pinned him against a sink. His hip dug painfully against the ceramic as the alpha shoved at his shoulders, making him bend over the sink. Wooyoung stared into the mirror to meet his own terrified eyes and saw the alpha hovering above him in the reflection. Fury and violence were dark in the alpha’s eyes.

“Get off me! Help! SAN!” Wooyoung screamed as he struggled with all his strength in the alpha’s hold. Wooyoung heard the alpha chuckle and felt his hand tangle in Wooyoung’s hair and roughly yank his head to the side, exposing his neck. Wooyoung redoubled his efforts to struggle as he saw the alpha bending down to scent at his neck.

Before the alpha could make contact, a truly hair raising growl echoed through the bathroom and the alpha’s body was off of him. Wooyoung fell to the floor and scrabbled desperately across the floor, back hitting the wall. A powerful wave of relief crashing through him when he saw that San was here. San had come for him. 

With a sickening crunch San’s fist connected with the alpha’s face, blood immediately pouring from his nose. Then a leg shot out and connected with the alpha’s torso, and when he doubled over in pain San grabbed they guy’s face and smashed it into his knee. The alpha fell limply to the floor, unconscious and bleeding profusely.

San stood over the alpha for a moment, tense and breathing heavily as if he expected him to stand and put up a fight. When he didn’t move San turned and quickly made his way over to Wooyoung on the floor.

“Are you okay? What did he do to you?” San asked, running his hands over Wooyoung looking for signs of damage.

Wooyoung just stared wide eyed at San and burst into tears.

In all of his years of getting drunk in public nothing like this had ever happened. Even when he was single and would stupidly go out alone. His whole body was shaking with fear and left over adrenaline.

Before Wooyoung could get out any words two police officers walked into the bathroom.

“What happened here? We heard screaming.” One of them asked. The other radioed for an ambulance after looking at the other alpha on the ground.

“That asshole,” San gestured to the guy, ”attacked my boyfriend.”

What happened next was a bit of a blur to Wooyoung. The police asked him some questions and he did his best to hiccup through the answers. Yes the guy had attacked him. No nothing other than him physically grabbing and pushing him. Yes he wanted him arrested. No he hadn’t flirted with him.

San had tensed and let out a growl at the last question. 

Wooyoung was relying heavily on San’s arm around his waist through the questioning and didn’t watch as the EMS rolled the alpha away in a stretcher, his hand cuffed to one of the rails.

When the police finished asking questions and walked away San and Wooyoung were promptly surrounded by the rest of their group. Yunho threw himself at Wooyoung, loudly apologizing, “I’m so sorry this is all my fault!”

Wooyoung gave him a confused look and Mingi supplied, “He went to follow you but then drunkenly tripped. We all had to work together to get him on his feet again so no one followed you to the bathroom. San realized first and went after you to check on you.”

Mingi’s eyes flicked over to San and Wooyoung followed. The alpha was pale and said, “I heard you screaming Wooyoung. And then- then I saw that mother fucker-“ San cut off and squeezed Wooyoung tight to his chest.

Wooyoung saw as the others faces paled.

“Did he hurt you?” Hongjoong asked, deadly calm. 

“He uh- pushed me up against a sink and pulled my hair.” Wooyoung shuddered out a breath as he had to think about it again. “He was getting ready to scent me when San got there.”

A heavy silence settled over the group. It made Wooyoung feel like melting into the asphalt. Yunho looked guilt stricken and Hongjoong had his deadly calculating leader face on. Angry alpha pheromones were seeping out of all the alpha’s present, and it mixed with the distressed pheromones Wooyoung and Yunho were emitting. All of that only made Wooyoung feel even more miserable. He just wanted to go home, take a shower, and cuddle up in bed.

“I’m going to order us a ride home. Everyone, get your scents under control, no one is going to let three pissed alphas into a van.” Hongjoong said, pulling out his phone and taking deep, slow breaths.

“How are you feeling?” San murmured into his neck from behind him. 

“I just wanna go home,” Wooyoung replied quietly. He was beginning to sober up and was starting to get nauseous on top of everything.

Everyone waited quietly, getting their scents under control for when the van got there. They didn’t have to wait long and Wooyoung honestly felt disconnected from his body for the whole ride. He felt like he was floating, like none of this was real as he stared out the window at the city lights sliding by.

They all walked quietly into the house to see Seonghwa sitting up on the couch rubbing his eyes from where he had fallen asleep waiting for them to come home. He opened his eyes and his face twisted in concern. He met eyes with Hongjoong and the two had a silent conversation. Seonghwa pursed his lips further but the only other action he took was to stand and press a soft kiss to Wooyoung’s forehead before everyone went their separate ways.

Wooyoung silently got together clean clothes and stepped into his and San’s bathroom. He looked into the mirror at his face and felt a wave of fear hit him. Fumbling at the door he threw it open and scrambled into his and San’s room.

“Whoa, whoa baby what’s wrong?” San asked, eyes wide and holding Wooyoung steady by his shoulders. His breath was coming in shaky gasps and he shoved himself against San’s body, crushing his nose into the alpha’s scent gland. San ran his fingers gently through Wooyoung’s hair as he breathed in the alphas comforting marshmallow scent. 

Gradually he calmed down and then said, “Sorry I just looked in the mirror in the bathroom and all I could think of was-“ Another shaky exhale left Wooyoung and he nuzzled further into San’s shoulder.

“You want me to go with you?” San asked gently. Wooyoung considered this for a moment and then nodded.

“Okay, give me a second I’m going to get clothes.” San quickly grabbed what he needed and then was leading Wooyoung into the bathroom. The omega picked his clothes up from where he had dropped then and set them on the counter in a more orderly pile. Hesitantly he looked up and into the mirror. His heart rate started to pick up again but then San was taking his hand and squeezing it.

“Easy Woo, it’s okay. I’m here.” The alpha’s voice was gentle and soothing, it helped to settle some of the panic rising in Wooyoung’s heart. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment, Wooyoung squeezed San’s hand back and nodded. 

After another moment, Wooyoung started to undress and San got the shower water going. Stepping under the hot water Wooyoung immediately felt better. The sting of the water bringing some awareness back into him. San gently kissed at Wooyoung’s neck and guided his head under the water to get his hair wet. Wooyoung let the alpha move him around as he washed his hair and body, leaving gentle and loving kisses along the way. San tensed suddenly and Wooyoung could smell angry alpha again. 

His eyes snapped open from where he had allowed them to slip shut under San’s attentions and followed San’s gaze. There was an ugly bruise on his hip. Probably from being pushed up against the sink in the bathroom. A roll of nausea curled in Wooyoung and he forced himself to breath through it. The bastard had left a mark. That meant it had been real. 

The crushing reality of what the bruise meant came crashing down onto Wooyoung. It had been real. He really had been in that situation. Drunk, alone in a bathroom, with an angry alpha that had tried to- 

Wooyoung couldn’t make himself think about what the alpha had probably tried to do.

A choked sob tore from his throat and he sagged against San. The alpha took his weight and rocked Wooyoung as he clung to his shoulders and cried under the hot water. San murmured reassurances and gently caressed Wooyoung, just making the omega cry harder for the show of love. Eventually Wooyoung calmed down enough for them to finish the shower. He allowed San to dry him and mechanically dressed himself.

Wooyoung walked over to his side of the bed and sat down. Not laying in the bed just yet. Just sitting and staring into space. He felt like he was thinking too much and nothing at all at the same time.

“I’m going to go get you some water, I’ll be right back okay baby?” San said from his side, eyes full of concern. A quiet Wooyoung was not a happy Wooyoung.

Wooyoung absently nodded and heard San’s soft footsteps leave the room. The silence pressed in heavy around him and he let his head fall into his hands. Tonight could have been so much worse. So, so much worse. He got away without anything more than a hair pull and a bruise. He was lucky San had arrived when he did. 

How could he have been so stupid? Just running off to the bathroom alone, knowing everyone else was drunk. How had he not noticed the alpha following him? Why wasn’t he strong enough to toss him off of himself? 

Before he could fall any deeper into his thoughts he felt San sit down next to him on the bed.

“Drink some of this please Woo,” San said, guiding the omegas hands away from his face.

Wooyoung took the glass of ice water from the alpha and sipped, suddenly realized how absolutely thirsty he was and then chugged the rest of it, heaving for air and wiping the corner of his mouth when he finished. San took the glass from him and set it aside. “You ready to lay down?” 

Wooyoung just nodded and maneuvered himself under the covers while San stood to turn off the over head light, leaving them in the warm glow of the bedside lamp. It made everything feel softer, more safe.

San slid into bed next to him and gathered the omega in his arms. Wooyoung pressed his head to San’s chest and listened to his strong and steady heartbeat. 

“I’m sorry.”

Wooyoung looked up at San who was looking at him with an expression of shock. They had both said sorry at the same time. Wooyoung’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you sorry for?”

“That’s my questions for you. You can’t seriously be blaming any of this on yourself.” San answered. 

“I’m the one who ran off without anyone. That alpha had been bothering me all night but I didn’t tell you about it.” Wooyoung confessed.

“Wooyoung it doesn’t matter if you were alone or with a million people. It doesn’t matter if that guy was already bothering you or if it was the first time you ever saw him. None of what happened was in any way your fault.” San said.

Wooyoung digested that information. “Well then how is any of it your fault then?”

“It’s my job as your alpha to protect you. I didn’t do a very good job of that tonight.” San said, voice tight. 

“What do you mean? You sent the guy to the hospital unconscious and in a stretcher,” Wooyoung protested. 

San’s face was in a scowl, “Yeah but he still touched you. He still followed you into the bathroom and I had no idea anything was wrong until I heard you literally screaming for help.” San’s eyes took on a haunted look as he remembered the sound of Wooyoung screaming.

“You did help though. Nothing even really happened thanks to you.” Wooyoung insisted, hugging the alpha’s torso tighter in his arms. 

“It shouldn’t have ever got as far as it did though.” San paused and thought for a moment. “I should’ve broken his hands too. Just for touching you like that with them.” His voice was dark and a wisp of anger made its way into his scent again. 

Suddenly San was hauling Wooyoung up and shoving his face into the omega’s neck, furiously kissing and scenting over the area. Wooyoung went lax in the alpha’s hold and reveled in the warm comforting smell that San was creating around them. He could smell as their marshmallow and vanilla scents mixed, encompassing them in the safe dim lighting of their room, wrapped in soft covers. Wooyoung let himself melt into San’s hold, let himself believe that he was safe and that he was protected. San was here, so that meant he was safe.

Placing a final kiss to the omega’s neck, and then one to each of the apples of his cheeks, San let Wooyoung settle back onto his chest. Wooyoung felt boneless and pleasantly warm. The anxiety and fear from earlier mostly just a memory now, no longer front and foremost in his mind.

“Thank you for always protecting me,” Wooyoung murmured, nuzzling his face into San’s chest. 

“I’ll always protect you Woo. I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have not finished literally any of my papers. Oops. 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think and if you liked it!
> 
> talk to me on tumblr! @softhwas


	3. Yeosang

Yeosang was breathing heavy and his limbs were trembling. He had stayed after Hongjoong called practiced because he wanted to make sure he got this one tricky part of the choreography down. Jongho had tried to stay with him but Yeosang had forced him to go home. The alpha already had some kind of cold going on and should be resting as much as possible, not staying over at practice. Jongho had looked a little disgruntled but after a sneezing fit had reluctantly agreed that he should go home and rest. 

That had been… a while ago. Yeosang collapsed to the floor and checked his phone, shock running through him when he saw not only the time, but the amount of text messages from Jongho. It was almost 11:30pm and he had about five texts from Jongho checking in and asking when he was going to be home, plus a missed call.

“Shit.” Yeosang muttered to himself, quickly stuffing his things into his practice bag. He hadn’t meant to be here this late, he’d only meant to stay an extra two, maybe three, hours. That explains how tired his limbs are at least though.

Yeosang hefted his bag over his shoulder and hit the lights in the practice room, exiting the studio into the chilly night air. It felt good on Yeosang’s overheated skin but didn’t do anything to help the shaking in his exhausted arms and legs. 

The omega walked down the familiar streets towards home and does his best not to feel anxious. He had walked down these street a million times, both during the day and at night, he knew them like the back of his hand. 

For some reason though, his mind won’t stop playing back all the bad alpha encounters he has had over the years.

Yeosang doesn’t know what it is about himself that attracts horrible alpha encounters, but he does know that he has an above average number of bad encounters. Even though it’s not uncommon at all for alphas to overstep their boundaries with unmated omegas, the culture basically raises omegas to expect and accept this behvaior, Yeosang and his other omega friends support that Yeosang has an above average amount of horror stories.

It could be due to Yeosang being quiet and timid. He doesn’t have that natural born instinct or ability to be aggressive and stand up for himself like Wooyoung does. The other omega will cuss out an alpha that looks at him the wrong way at the drop of a hat. Yeosang has never cussed out a single stranger in his life. Friends for sure have felt his wrath, but for some infuriating reason Yeosang can’t direct that towards an alpha creeping on him.

His mind goes back to one particularly scary incident. He had just entered training and was struggling to say the least. Everything had been so much so fast and he had felt in over his head. Another trainee, an alpha, had offered to help Yeosang with a dance they were supposed to be performing at the end of the week. At the time, Yeosang had gratefully accepted the other trainee’s help. He had assumed that the other trainee had seen someone in need of help and was acting out of the goodness of his heart.

Yeosang scoffed out loud into the night at the thought.

It had been a disaster. The other trainee was decent for all of about 30 seconds before he got too handsy. Resting possessive hands on Yeosang’s waist and guising him to move in a provocative manner that was definitely not in the choreography. The alpha had breathed disgusting compliments into his ear. “You smell so sweet baby, let an alpha treat you right,” before attempting to slip his hands under Yeosang’s waistband.

Even in that situation Yeosang hadn’t had the balls to stand up for himself. He had stammered out an excuse that he needed to use the restroom and then hyperventilated in a stall for a couple minutes before scurrying off to hide in the dorm.

The next day he had been so scared to go back to training. He knew that the alpha would be pissed and waiting for him. Yeosang also knew that if the alpha had decided to start some rumors about him that no one would be on his side. He was an unmated omega that had been alone with an alpha. What was everyone supposed to think happened?

Thankfully the alpha hadn’t started any rumors about him. He just stared at him aggressively and told every who asked why that the omega was a bitch. Yeosang could handle being called a bitch, just so they stayed away from him after that.

Yeosang sighed heavily as he came back to himself. The ghosts of many creepy alphas dancing over his skin making his shiver in discomfort. At least now he had Jongho. Jongho was the only alpha that had always treated him with respect. Yeosang actually had to ask the alpha, through much blushing and stammering, to touch him. Yeosang’s heart pulsed with affection at the thought of his alpha. 

Jongho was truly a saving grace for Yeosang. The alpha wasn’t even presented when Yeosang had met him but had stepped in and defended Yeosang more times than the omega could count. It had only intensified when Jongho had presented, fresh hormones raging through the new alpha to protect. Growling at anyone who dared to even awkwardly compliment the omega unwelcomely.

Not that Yeosang particularly likes that Jongho has to step in a lot to intercept other alphas, but it has taken a load of stress off Yeosang’s shoulders. 

The omega is pulled from his thoughts by a sound coming from behind him. The hair stands up on the back of his neck and he whips his head around to look behind him.

Nothing.

Just an empty street softly lit by the street lights.

Yeosang pauses for a second on the sidewalk, then mentally shakes himself and keeps walking. It was probably just a stray cat or the wind. Nevertheless, Yeosang picks up his pace just a little, glancing at his phone quickly to catch the time. Ten minutes until midnight. Jongho is going to be so worried about him, Yeosang laments to himself. He can’t believe he let time slip away from him like that. 

He can’t shake the feeling of being watched. He’s probably just being tired and paranoid, Yeosang convinces himself. Like a child that’s watched a scary movie, he’s making monsters out of nothing.

His ankle protests suddenly and loudly, tweaking the already practice strained area painfully. Yeosang hisses out a curse and limps a couple steps further onto the side walk. He turns his head to the sky and briefly closes his eyes, reveling in the self pity of the moment. 

He’s tired. He’s sweaty. It’s late. He still has a ten minute walk to get the rest of the way home. And now his ankle is throbbing. Great.

Yeosang huffs out a breath and gingerly continues on his way, limping a little more obviously than he’d like to be. Now Jongho is going to be extra worried. Home late and with a sore ankle. 

Another, louder scuffling noise comes from behind Yeosang. This time when Yeosang turns around his heart drops and a cold, instinctual fear falls over him. There is someone walking towards him on the sidewalk, only their large silhouette visible in the dim street lighting. 

A line of expletives run through Yeosang’s mind and he tries to ignore his ankle screaming at him as he casually picks up his pace. He doesn’t want it to be obvious and spur the stranger into rushing him, or offend some random bystander also innocently walking the streets late at night. That’s probably what they are anyways. An innocent bystander. Yeosang has just freaked himself out and that’s why he can’t shake the pit of dread in his stomach as he continues towards home. 

Yeosang is sweating, in fear, pain, and exertion. He’s miserably tense and just wants to be home already. The person is still behind him, and even though Yeosang quickened his pace they haven’t fallen any further behind. 

He almost cries in relief when he sees the familiar corner of the block their home in on. He’s practically made it, this is quite literally the home stretch. He can already feel the softness of his bed and smell Jongho’s warm earthy scent. 

As he goes to cross the street onto his block a figure appears in front of him, large and imposing. Yeosang skids to a halt in order not to ram right into the guy’s chest.

“Are you lost little boy?” A mocking voice comes from the stranger. The man is visible in the street light and he looks… exactly like what someone who would say that in this circumstance should look like. He’s menacing and gross. His hair greasy and stuck to his head, and the over powering scent of body odor almost covered up his natural alpha burnt rubber scent. 

Yeosang takes a step back from the alpha and tries desperately to think of what Wooyoung would say in this situation. Or Seonghwa. Or even Yunho. Just something other than the involuntary whimper that comes from the back of his throat, panic rendering him mute.

“He’s definitely lost,” a second voice comes from behind him, “Smell how scared he is. Good he ran into a couple of good Samaritans right Kisoo?”

Yeosang’s head whips to look at the stranger walking up the sidewalk towards him. It’s definitely the person who had been following him. 

“Right,” Kisoo agrees, then grabs Yeosang’s upper arm painfully. “Come on, we can take you somewhere safe.”

Yeosang starts to struggle against the man’s hold, terrified whimpers leaving him despite himself. God he wished he were more brave, but he’s just so fucking scared. Not one, but two strange alphas and they’re trying to take him away somewhere. This is not good.

“L-l-let me go,” Yeosang manages to softly stammer out, now trying to push the mans hand off him.

“C’mon now baby, just come with us nice and easy,” The alpha, Kisoo, starts tugging him down the darker street, away from Yeosang’s home. The second alpha chuckles darkly and presses his hand against Yeosang’s lower back, pushing him along the sidewalk.

Yeosang can feel real, deep seated fear setting in. This is not a drill. This is really happening to him. Right now. He needs to do something.

A shrill scream erupts from Yeosang’s throat. 

“Shut up you fucking cunt,” The second alpha clamps his hand over Yeosang’s mouth, muffling the scream. Yeosang’s senses are filled with his disgusting sink water scent as he struggles against him. He’s putting his whole body into it now. Something in his brain has switched on, and he’s not going to just submissively let these guys kidnap him. He’d rather die.

So he starts violently jerking his body, trying his best to break free. He catches Kisoo off guard and Yeosang takes advantage of it, yanking his arm from the alpha’s grasp. Unfortunately, Yeosang is also surprised by his success and falls off balance, tumbling roughly on the concrete.

“Oh so you just wanna get on with it right here in the middle of the street?” Kisoo growls, clearly annoyed at the fight Yeosang is putting up. The alpha takes a step forward and Yeosang is scrambling back, desperately trying to get his feet under him but his limbs aren’t cooperating.

Then, a spine chilling growl tears through the night air, shocking everyone into silence and stillness. 

Yeosang’s heart leaps in relief. Jongho. He’s here.

And he’s fucking pissed if his scent is anything to go by. He’s behind Yeosang, so the omega can’t see him but he can smell him. His alpha smells like scorched earth and wildfires. He smells like a promise of destruction.

Jongho doesn’t say anything before rushing forward smashing KIsoo’s face into the sidewalk, hooking his leg from beneath him and driving his face down into the pavement. A dull thud is heard and Kisoo doesn’t stand up. Not even a second later, just long enough for the second alpha to start turning to run, Jongho’s fist is arcing up and connecting with the other alpha’s temple. The second alpha falls limply to the ground, out cold.

Jongho pants for a moment, fists clenched tightly into fists waiting for one of the attackers to move, and Yeosang stares wide eyed up at him. He truly looks like a full grown alpha in a rage, muscles straining and postured aggressively, threatening growl rumbling constantly from his chest. 

Then he’s turning, softening as he scoops Yeosang up into his arms.

“Are you okay?” Jongho breaths out. 

Yeosang takes a moment to consider the question. Is he okay? 

“No,” Yeosang warbled out, first watery tears making their way down his cheeks. It was like a dam a broken inside him, he was shaking like a leaf in Jongho’s arms, terrified and relieved tears pouring from him.

“Oh baby, let’s get you inside.” Jongho cooed to him, nuzzling his cheek against Yeosang’s head. The alpha easily carried the omega all the way down the block and up the stairs into their home. 

When Jongho opened the door he called out, “Hyung?”

A couple different voices from inside answered but it was Hongjoong that made it to them first. Stiffening when he took in the sight of Yeosang crying in Jongho’s arms.

“What happened?” Hongjoong asked, leader voice fully on and his eyes scanned Yeosang as Jongho settled onto the couch with Yeosang still in his lap, crying pitifully.

“I… I think we need to call the police hyung.” Jongho said.

“Why? What happened?!” Hongjoong demanded. “Did someone hurt Yeosang?”

By now Seonghwa had also entered the room and the other omega’s face was pale white and his expression hard as stone. After looking at Yeosang, red faced and crying in Jongho’s lap he robotically pulled out his phone and called emergency services.

“I think my friend’s been attacked,” Yeosang heard Seonghwa’s voice say into the phone. There was a pause, Seonghwa gave the dispatcher their address and then, “Do they need to send an ambulance?”

Jongho paused, “Probably.”

“Is Yeosang hurt?” Hongjoong demanded. 

“Yeosang’s hurt?” Wooyoung’s voice came from the hallway. Yeosang shifted his head to see his best friend in the doorway and he reached out to him. He wanted as many of his family members here as possible. Wooyoung quickly made his way over to his best friend and cuddled up as close as possible, scenting and nuzzling at Yeosang insistently.

“Yeosang isn’t,” Jongho grunted a little as Wooyoung crawled onto Yeosang, the two cuddling together on Jongho’s lap. “But the two other guys were. Hopefully they are still there when the police get here.” Jongho’s voice hardened at the thought of Yeosang’s assailants. 

“Jongho, please, tell us what happened.” Hongjoong pled, sitting on a chair next to the couch, worried eyes scanning over Yeosang’s pitiful form in Jongho’s lap.

Jongho took in a deep breath and scented gently at Yeosang’s neck. The omega whined and leaned into the touch, trying both to nestle in closer to Jongho and Wooyoung at the same time.

Pulling away, he took a deep breath and started, “I was already worried because it’s pretty late and he hadn’t came home, or answered any of my texts. Or my call. I had the window cracked a little to let some fresh air in and then,” Jongho’s voice cracked , “I heard a scream. Like a real scream.”

The last words were a whisper as Jongho clutched Yeosang closer to his chest. Wooyoung whined in worry over Jongho’s words and nuzzled against Yeosang fervently. Seonghwa was still on the phone with the dispatcher but his face was settled into a deep frown as he listened. Hongjoong had gone very still. Deadly still. 

Another deep breath and Jongho was continuing, “I just had a bad gut feeling so I ran outside-”

“So that’s what the crashing that woke everyone up was,” Wooyoung said into Yeosang’s hair.

“I guess,” Jongho shrugged, “I ran down the street and I heard… I saw…”

A guttural growl left Jongho. Yeosang could feel it rattle deep in his bones. He saw as it unsettled the others in the room, Wooyoung shrinking against Yeosang and both Hongjoong and Seonghwa stiffening. It made Yeosang feel a little safer, knowing what Jongho was capable of.

“Yeosang was on the ground, and there were two guys standing over him. They said something like ‘So this is how you want it?’,” Jongho’s body was tense against Yeosang’s and he squirmed in the alpha’s grip until he could reach the alpha’s neck. He still smelled a little like a forest fire, but there was enough of his grassy scent there to make Yeosang nuzzle against his scent gland. The scent helping to smooth the jagged edges of fear still coursing through the omega’s body.

After a moment, Jongho continued. “I knocked both of them out and got Yeosang out of there. Now we’re here.”

Yeosang felt like he was watching all of this play out from afar, like this was all happening in a tv show and he was just watching it. He felt Jongho’s arms around him and Wooyoung’s weight on top of him but it didn’t feel real. Which was weird considering how incredibly real and high definition earlier had felt. He could feel his body shaking still and the remnants of tears streaking down his face, but it was muted. It didn’t hurt as much. 

Hongjoong’s brow was furrowed as he considered the information Jongho had told him, then the leader met Yeosang’s eyes. “Sangie, how are you feeling?”

Yeosang took a moment to consider the question. He definitely felt better than earlier, but he definitely didn’t feel good. The weird floaty, disconnected feeling was a little disconcerting, but it was better than how he felt before. He shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes from Hongjoong, nuzzling closer into Jongho’s neck, breathing in the calming earthy scent tinged with vanilla from Wooyoung’s proximity. 

“Can you tell us what happened before Jongho got there?” The leader asked gently.

Yeosang took a shuddering breath as he thought back to it. “I lost track of time in the studio so I didn’t leave until like 11:30. Everything was fine but someone started following me about halfway home. They didn’t do anything so I thought I might just be being paranoid. Then- then when I got to the c-corner of the block-“ Yeosang’s voice began cracking as fresh fear hit him at the memory. The disgusting scents of BO, burnt rubber, and sink water flooding him again. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the feeling of Jongho and Wooyoung against him, took lungfuls his family’s scents around him. Earth, vanilla, roses, and leather taking the place of the memory of his would be kidnappers.

Jongho’s hand was rubbing comforting circles on his back and Yeosang felt himself relax into the touch. Taking another deep breath Yeosang continued, “I got to the corner and a guy stepped out in front of me and was acting all creepy. Saying I was lost and that he would take me somewhere safe. Then the person who was following walked up. They had to have been working together.” A fresh wave of fear went through Yeosang at the thought. The second alpha had stalked him for a while, alone in the dark. 

“They grabbed me by the arm and started pushing me down the sidewalk and I was so-so fucking scared. I couldn’t do anything. I just screamed and then I tried to break free and run away but I just fell and I couldn’t get up and then-“ Yeosang was rambling. Breaths coming in fast and harsh. 

“Shhhh baby, you’re safe now.” Jongho murmured to him, Yeosang could smell how both him and Wooyoung were releasing calming scents. It helped Yeosang to get his breathing back under control. 

“That must have been when I got there, you were on the ground,” Jongho added and Yeosang nodded. 

Hongjoong opened his mouth to say something else but then there was a knock at the door. Seonghwa went to answer it and came back with a couple police officers following him.

Yeosang felt anxiety run through him. Talking about this with the members was hard enough, how was he supposed to speak to strangers? He shifted anxiously in Jongho’s arms, timidly looking up to meet one of the officers eyes. The officer looked nice enough and gave Yeosang a sympathetic look. 

“We gotta ask you a few questions but we’ll try to make it as painless as possible,” The officer said.

Yeosang nodded and the officers settled into chairs around the living room. The questions they asked were pretty easy but Yeosang struggled to speak any louder than a whisper. Frustrated tears came from his eyes again about halfway through. He wished he were stronger, that he wasn’t so weak. If he were stronger none of this would have even happened probably. He scrubbed violently at his eyes and forced out the rest of the story for the cops. 

There was a screeching noise and some garbled words came through the officers radios. 

“Sound like the offenders were found where you left them, would you be able to identify them?” Yeosang paused, and then hesitantly nodded.

“Okay, I’ll tell then to swing by in the ambulance and then you can take a peek.” The officer grabbed his radio and said a quick message. “They’ll be here in a second, let’s go.”

Yeosang stood an unsteady feet, his ankle twinging painfully when he tried to put pressure on it. Jongho was there before he could even take a step, guiding Yeosang to put most of his weight on Jongho’s arm. 

They made it down to the street just as the ambulances pulled up. A renewed sense of panic filled Yeosang, inside were the guys that tried to take him. What if they escaped? What if they lied and the police didn’t believe him? 

Before his mind could continue down that road Jongho squeezed at his hand and dipped his head down to place a kiss on Yeosang’s cheek. The omega let out a shuddering breath at the alpha’s reassurance. He’s okay. Jongho’s here.

When the police officer saw that Yeosang had calmed down a bit he tugged open the first door and Yeosang peeked in. It was Kisoo. He was still knocked out and some bandages were on his blood covered face, but Yeosang could tell.

“H-his name is Kisoo, that’s the one that came around the corner,” Yeosang stuttered out. The cop just nodded and then slammed the door shut, making Yeosang flinch. They walked over to the second ambulance and pulled open the door. 

Yeosang smelled the dirty sink water scent coming from the ambulance and actually gagged. Eyes watering he looked into the ambulance and saw the second alpha glaring at him, large angry bump on his temple from where Jongho had struck him. Yeosang felt his body go rigid and he averted his eyes, trying to back away from the ambulance.

“That’s the o-other one, the one that followed me,” Yeosang said, bringing Jongho’s wrist up to his nose, breathing in the comforting grassy scent, pushing away the dirty sink scent that lingered. 

The cop said something into his radio and the ambulances sirens whooped once before pulling off.

“Alright, thank you guys for being helpful. Someone will be calling you to speak to you about next steps.” The officer told them and then spoke into his radio again, telling his partner that was still in their apartment that they were done. With a final nod in their direction the cop walked off towards their car. 

Jongho and Yeosang made their way back up to the apartment, nodded to the second officer when they passed. When they made it back, everyone was awake. 

“Yeosang!” Yunho cried, lurching forward to embrace the smaller omega. Yeosang relaxed into Yunho’s arms, the pure omega scent of orange filling his head and making him feel a little more settled. 

“Be gentle Yunho,” Seonghwa chided, but he also came over and pressed a kiss to the omega’s forehead.

Yeosang looked around the room at each of his member’s faces. They all looked different variations of worried and relieved. 

“I think he should sit, his ankle hurts,” Jongho announced, guiding his omega over to the couch.

“I’ll go get him some ice, maybe make a couple snacks too since everyone is awake,” Seonghwa mumbled the last part, heading off to the kitchen. Yeosang smiled softly at the other omega’s behavior. Seonghwa always went into mothering overload when he was worried or stressed about one of the members. Yeosang is sure that before everyone goes to bed that Seonghwa will have force fed them all a five star meal. 

Yeosang sat heavily on the couch, Jongho settling behind him, encouraging Yeosang to lean against the alpha’s chest as Wooyoung busied himself propping Yeosang’s leg up on a pillow on Wooyoung’s lap. The rest of the member’s draped themselves over the furniture of the living room, eyes darting over to look at Yeosang every couple of seconds.

“You guys, I’m fine. A little shook up and my ankle hurts, but I’m fine. You don’t need to tip toe around me,” Yeosang announced into the silent room. Now that it was just the members around he felt himself starting to relax in their presence. All the scents mixing and creating the smell of home, of family. Jongho’s warm body behind his acting as a foundation for Yeosang to start building on.

The member’s looked a little guilty. “Sorry Yeosang, we were all just really worried about you.” Mingi said as he leaned over and squeezed at Yeosang’s hand, casually scenting their wrists together. Mingi and Yunho’s scents were so intertwined that the alpha left behind more of a orange cinnamon scent than just his own.

Seonghwa busily entered the room and placed an ice pack that had been carefully wrapped in a towel over Yeosang’s ankle. The other omega also had a large bowl of fruit in his hands that he sat on the coffee table. 

“I figured it shouldn’t be anything too unhealthy since its really just a late night snack,” Seonghwa said, fidgeting a little in front of Yeosang. 

“Come here you mother hen, I know you want to,” Yeosang playfully rolled his eyes and beckoned Seonghwa over. Seonghwa looked relieved and hurridly sat next to Yeosang and checked him over for injuries, then he fussed with his clothes and hair, then he forced Yeosang to eat a couple pieces of fruit, and then he finally allowed himself to scent the younger omega. Yeosang closed his eyes and savored Seonghwa’s soft rose scent as he rubbed his cheek against Yeosang’s wrist. Whenever one of them got hurt or was going through something Seonghwa was always there to comfort and support them. Yeosang had a bit of a pavlovian response to Seonghwa’s scent now that just made him feel supported and relaxed. Like the warm hug of a friend.

“No more staying after practice alone,” Seonghwa murmured, brushing Yeosang’s hair off his forehead.

“I second that,” Hongjoong said from across the room, “Especially this late at night. Alpha or omega.”

This was met with murmured agreements from around the room. Yeosang felt a little flush of embarrassment run through him. Just because of him now everyone has to change how they do things. Yeosang frowned but knew it was no use to argue with Hongjoong. He turned his head and nuzzled into Jongho’s chest, the alpha brought his hand up and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“I think it’s time for everyone to go to bed.” Hongjoong announced. “We still have schedules tomorrow.”

There were a couple groans at that information but otherwise everyone made their way to bed. San stopped by to scent delicately at Yeosang’s wrist and gave the omega a dimple filled smile before following Wooyoung down the hall. Hongjoong was the last person left with them and he squeezed Yeosang’s hand, “I’m glad you’re okay. If you need anything, you know we are all here for you.”

Yeosang nodded and then allowed Jongho to pick him up again and carry him bridal style to their room.

“Don’t put me down on the bed, I want to take a shower and change first.” Yeosang said when they entered their room. He wanted there to be no chance of any of the alphas from earlier scents getting on something as precious as his bed. 

Jongho just nodded and helped Yeosang through the process of showering and changing, patiently anticipating the omega’s needs and comfort along the way.

Finally, after what felt like a million years, Yeosang was sinking into his bed. A bone deep fatigue settled over him as he sunk into the mattress. He felt the bed dip and Jongho’s body pressed insistently up against his, the alpha scenting gently but thoroughly at his neck. 

“I’m going to make sure nothing like this ever happens to you again,” Jongho said into the dark room. “I’m going to protect you with every ounce of my being. You’ll never have to go through something like this again.” The alpha promised into Yeosang’s neck.

Yeosang allowed the alpha to scent him and whisper his promises of protection, and when Jongho pulled the omega into his chest and wrapped his arms around him, Yeosang let himself believe those promises. 

He is safe. 

He is protected. 

He is loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was way angstier and heavier than i meant it to be lol tbh i scrapped this chapter and tried to rewrite it to be lighter and fluffier but i wasn't liking how that version came out so i went back to this. i meant for this work to be a little fluffier, more like the first chapter, but i guess my writer brain isn't going to cooperate on that lol
> 
> i hope you guys are liking this anyways!
> 
> Let me know what you thought and if you liked it!
> 
> talk to me on tumblr! @softhwas


	4. Seonghwa

Seonghwa was having a really good day. 

They hadn’t had dance practice so he had been able to sleep in some. He had woken up in Hongjoong’s arms, comforting scent of leather surrounding him and making their bed feel even more comfortable. He and Hongjoong had even had time to fool around some before having to get out of bed. Seonghwa had went into the vocal booth feeling warm and loose, a pleasant soreness running through his body. 

They were working on some tracks for the upcoming album. It had a sexier, more r&b feel to it than anything they had done before and they had gotten a new producer to help them out with it. 

To be honest Seonghwa was really feeling himself during the recording. He felt sexy and kept thinking about this morning with Hongjoong and how he was going to instigate a part two as soon as they got home. The rumbling bass beats of the song he was singing over was only serving to encourage that feeling.

Not to even mention the lyrics. Which Hongjoong wrote. Seonghwa didin’t want to think about what Hongjoong was thinking of when he wrote theses. Or maybe he did. 

So sue him, Seonghwa was making eyes at Hongjoong from across the glass barrier when the alpha had stopped by to visit. He was feeling it and by the way Hongjoong was looking at him, so was the alpha.

Too soon though, Hongjoong’s own schedule was pulling him away from the vocal booth to his contemporary lesson. While Seonghwa was sad to see Hongjoong go, it also let him focus a little more on his actual singing performance and he found he was able to take the producers suggestions better now that his focus wasn’t divided. 

“Make sure you’re supporting your breath well through that note,” The producer’s voice, Sangook, came through Seonghwa’s headphones. Seonghwa nodded and focused on his breathing as the track started up again. 

The recording session went by quickly. Without any distractions Seonghwa was able to focus on the feedback and give the producer what he wanted without much struggle.

When the producer called the session finished Seonghwa sent Hongjoong a quick text message saying his session was over and that he was going to be hanging out in the lounge area waiting for him.

Seonghwa settled himself into a comfy couch in the lounge room and opened up a webtoon comic Yunho had told him about. It was pretty good, if a bit sappy. All this flowery stuff about alpha’s saving omegas and how omegas are weak and needed to be protected.

It made Seonghwa want to scoff. He had never bought into that kind of thinking, and while Hongjoong did have a pretty powerful protective instinct, he never treated Seonghwa like he was a delicate flower ready to be crushed at any moment. Seonghwa had proven time and time again that he didn’t need to be an alpha to be intimidating, or to stand up for himself. 

The omega has spent a lot of time perfecting his “don’t fucking talk to me” walking face. It’s usually a pretty successful deterrant. However, when an alpha is not deterred by the face and tries something with the omega while he’s walking down the street Seonghwa just glares daggers at them and that usually does the trick. Sometimes however, there are some truly persistent and creepy alpha’ that just won’t leave him alone. Seonghwa usually finds a way out of it one way or another. He wasn’t afraid to cuss an alpha out if they refuse to catch the hint.

Seonghwa was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the door opening and he looked up from his phone to see the producer walk in. 

“Oh hey Seonghwa, what are you still doing here?” Sangook asked, looking mildly surprised. 

“Ah I’m just waiting for Hongjoong to get done working,” Seonghwa replied, turning his attention back to his phone. It was a little awkward now that the alpha was here, but Seonghwa reminded himself that Sangook is just a coworker and that this is technically a public room. 

Sangook settled onto a chair close to Seonghwa and said, “You recorded really well today, your vocal tone really suits the sexier R&B feel of the tracks.”

“Thank you, I’ve put a lot of work into vocal training,” Seonghwa replied flatly. He had a nagging bad feeling about the situation but was trying not to assume anything bad about the producer. 

“I can tell, the way you hit that melody part,” Sangook made an appreciative noise followed by a whistle, “You’re gonna have the fans going wild.”

Seonghwa just let out a short laugh and tried to look immersed in his phone. It worked for a couple minutes but he could almost hear the gears turning in the alpha’s head from a couple feet away. 

“How long have you and Hongjoong been friends?” Sangook asked, trying to make the question sound as innocent as possible.

“Well we first met when we were trainees, but we’ve been together for about two years now.” Seonghwa answered, not looking up from his phone.

“Oh you guys are together? I didn’t know that. He seems…”, Sangook trailed off. 

That raised Seonghwa’s hackles a bit. He looked up from his phone. “Seems what?”

“You know, I’d think a gorgeous omega like you would want a more… well alpha alpha.” Sangook said lowly. The alphas eyes were boring holes into Seonghwa’s.

“I mean Hongjoong is an alpha, and a great one at that so no, I don’t know what you’re trying to say,” Seonghwa replied, a dangerous tone entering his voice. He would not put up with this random alpha putting Hongjoong down. 

“I just think that you could be being treated better by a bigger, more dominant alpha is all I’m saying. Hongjoong seems nice and all, he’s got a lot of talent and is a good leader to your group, but he’s small and kind of scrawny. There is no way he’s able to handle you how you need.” The producer scooted his chair closer to Seonghwa and the omega could smell him releasing dominating pheromones, trying to make Seonghwa submit. The alpha’s smothering woodfire scent making Seonghwa want to cough. 

“You will not speak about Hongjoong like that to me. Especially if you’re going to try some alpha bullshit like you are right now. It’s really none of your business what goes on in our relationship but just so you know, I’d rather die unmated than have you lay a land on me.” Seonghwa spat, standing and moving toward the door.

Seonghwa was roughly jerked back, a hand tight around his wrist as Sangook rose and put his body between Seonghwa and the exit. 

“See this is exactly what I’m talking about. There is no way Hongjoong is keeping his omega right if this is how you speak to an alpha,” Sangook said, hand painfully tight around Seonghwa’s wrist. The omega bit off a whine of pain as he felt the bones in his wrist grind together. 

“Get your fucking hand off me,” Seonghwa said, hissing at the alpha. It had been a long time since Seonghwa had actually hissed at someone and it came out scratchy and low.

“Oooo the omega’s got a mouth. Let’s see how much it’ll take for you to make those sweet sounds you made in the booth earlier,” Sangook roughly grabbed Seonghwa’s shoulders and held the omega in place as he scented over Seonghwa’s neck. 

“NO!” The objection exploded from Seonghwa’s mouth, a deep seated feeling of wrongness settling in him as he smelled the woodfire scent mix with his own natural scent, covering up Hongjoong’s warm, leathery one. 

“Let go of me you bastard!” Seonghwa yelled, struggling in the alpha’s hold. Seonghwa hadn’t really paid attention to the alpha’s size before this, but he was several inches taller than him with quite a bit of muscle. Between that and how Seonghwa was both having to struggle against him physically and the reaction his instincts were having to the dominating pheromones the alpha was releasing, Seonghwa was only really able to put up a feeble struggle.

Real fear settled into Seonghwa as the alpha licked over his scent gland, and he pushed down the urge to vomit. 

“What are you afraid of omega? I’m going to make you feel so good. I saw how you were looking at me earlier in the recording booth, don’t act like you weren’t begging for this,” The alpha rumbled in his ear. 

“You’re fucking crazy, I don’t want you to touch me, GET OFF!” Seonghwa yelled.

There was a loud growl and then Seonghwa was plummeting downwards, fear coursed through him as Sangook landed on top of him. 

But just as quickly as Sangook was on him, he was off.

Seonghwa’s heart leapt when he saw Hongjoong hauling Sangook up and landing a solid punch across his face, then a knee to the gut. 

“HE. SAID. NO. YOU. FUCKER.” Each word was punctuated by a kick to the torso. 

Hongjoong breathed heavily as Sangook fell to the floor and groaned. “You’re fired. Get out.”

“What are you talking about? Your slut omega jumped ME!” Sangook spluttered from his spot on the floor.

“Get. Out.” Hongjoong growled lowly, angry pheromones heavy in the air. The amount of alpha pheromones in the room made Seonghwa feel even shakier than he was already feeling, it was all too much.

Sangook just threw a dirty look at Seonghwa and then limped out of the room.

Quickly Hongjoong walked over to Seonghwa and crouched by the shaking omega, running a gentle hand through his hair. Seonghwa leaned into the touch and exhaled shakily as a tear slipped down his cheek.

“Are you okay Hwa? Did he hurt you?” Hongjoong murmured, cupping the omega’s face gently in his hands.

“N-no, he didn’t hurt me, I’m okay,” Seonghwa replied.

Hongjoong frowned at the omega, clearly not convinced. “What happened?”

“I was just sitting in here waiting for you to get done with work and then he came in and started to try to come on to me. I tried to leave but he wouldn’t let me and then-,” Seonghwa paused, fighting off nausea at the thought of the alpha’s mouth on his neck. Hongjoong’s eyes widened with concern.

“Then he uh- scented me. I tried to get him off me I swear! He wouldn’t let me go and it really hurt my wrist, I was just too weak. I’m so sorry Hongjoong.” Seonghwa hung his head, a deep feeling of shame filling him. He had betrayed his alpha. Another alpha’s scent was all over him, another alpha has scented his neck. Hongjoong was going to be so mad. Seonghwa had betrayed him. 

“Hey baby, calm down, take a couple deep breaths with me,” Hongjoong’s voice broke through Seonghwa’s thoughts, and the omega tried to follow the breaths Hongjoong was taking. He hadn’t even noticed that he had started hyperventilating. “There you go, just like that. Good job baby.”

After a couple rounds of breathing Seonghwa felt a little less distressed. 

“There is nothing for you to be sorry for Hwa. He’s the fucked up one. You tried to get away. You did such a good job my omega, so good,” Hongjoong crooned, cradling Seonghwa to his chest and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Can you uh- please, I just- want you to make me- uh, can you scent me please?” Seonghwa stuttered out, feeling a little embarrassed about his breakdown and then requesting Hongjoong to scent him. His omega instincts were still going crazy that he smelled like a strange alpha.

“Of course baby, of course.” Hongjoong murmured into the omega’s hair. “Come sit on the couch, it’ll be more comfortable.” 

Hongjoong helped Seonghwa up and the settled into the couch Seonghwa had been sitting on earlier. Hongjoong gently cupped Seonghwa’s face before softly kissing him on the lips. Seonghwa let out a soft whine and presented his neck to Hongjoong. A low angry rumble left Hongjoong when he caught the scent of the strange alpha on his omega, his hands tightening on Seonghwa.

The alpha dipped his head and kissed down Seonghwa’s neck. Thoroughly kissing and licking over the omega’s scent gland, covering up any trace of Sangook. Seonghwa needily wriggled and bared himself further, needing to smell like Hongjoong as much as possible before his inner omega would be satisfied. Hongjoong let out a pleased growl and bit lightly over Seonghwa’s scent gland before placing one last kiss over the spot and pulling away. 

“Better?” Hongjoong asked.

Seonghwa heavily sighed, “Yeah, much.” Then he leaned over to Hongjoong and nuzzled against the alpha’s neck in his own quick scenting.

“You ready to go home?” Hongjoong asked. Seonghwa just nodded into Hongjoong’s neck, suddenly feeling exhausted. Hongjoong stood and helped Seonghwa to his feet. 

Seonghwa leaned heavily on Hongjoong the entire walk home, grateful for the alpha’s unwavering support. When they made it into the house Seonghwa only made it as far as the couch before sinking down into the cushions heavily, the weight of the whole experience literally dragging him down. Hongjoong settled in next to him and ran a hand up and down the omega’s back. 

“What do you need right now baby?” Hongjoong asked quietly. 

Seonghwa thought about the question for a few moments. What did he need? 

He needed to stop thinking about how helpless he had felt against Sangook. He needed to forget the smell of woodfire. He needed to forget the feeling of the strange alpha’s tongue on his neck. He needed to go back in time and not sit in the lounge alone.

“I think I need an ice pack,” Seonghwa said.

“An ice pack? For what? Are you hurt?” Hongjoong asked, worry evident in his voice.

“Ah, it’s not a big deal. He just grabbed my wrist kind of hard, and I just made it worse when I tried to pull away. It just aches a little,” Seonghwa tried to wave Hongjoong’s worry off. “I can get it, don’t worry about it.” Seonghwa attempted to stand up off the couch but Hongjoong gently stopped him.

“No Hwa, let me look. Do we need to go to the hospital?” Hongjoong asked. 

“Hospital?” A voice said from the hallway. Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s heads whipped up and saw Yunho standing in the entry to the living room looking worried, but also like he just woke up, cheeks rosy and hair messy.

Seonghwa felt embarrassment enter his cheeks. It was bad enough that Hongjoong was seeing him like this, let alone any of his other bandmates. He needed to make sure they could feel like he was someone strong they could lean on, and the way he was feeling right now Seonghwa is not sure he’d be able to keep that face on for the younger members.

“Ah, don’t worry Yunho, it’s not a big deal,” Seonghwa tried to brush it off, “It looks like we woke you up, try to get some more sleep before dinner yeah?”

Instead of going back to his room Yunho came around the couch and settled in on Seonghwa’s other side. “You look like you don’t feel well hyung,” Yunho scented the air lightly, “and you smell distressed, what’s going on?” The omega’s eyes were wide with innocent worry.

“Seonghwa, let me look at your wrist,” Hongjoong coaxed. Seonghwa entertained the thought of refusing but sighed defeatedly and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to expose his injured wrist.

It definitely looked worse than Seonghwa thought it would. It was already a dark purple and still angrily red around the edges. You could clearly see the shape of a handprint around Seonghwa’s wrist. The omega winced a little at the sight.

Seonghwa peeked up at Hongjoong and saw the alpha’s eyes locked onto the mark, angry pheromones seeping into his scent again. 

“I should have hit him more.” Hongjoong said darkly.

“Seonghwa! Does it hurt? Are you okay? Oh my god what happened?” Yunho gushed, pressing in closer to Seonghwa’s side.

“Ah don’t worry about it Yunho, just some asshole alpha,” Seonghwa said, embarrassment hot on his cheeks. He always tried to set a strong example for the omegas but look at him now, Seonghwa felt ashamed. 

“I’m going to grab you some ice and pain killers,” Hongjoong announced and quickly walked off to the kitchen. Seonghwa watched his tight, quick stride and knew that the alpha was struggling to keep his temper under control.

Seonghwa sighed heavily and leaned into Yunho, breathing in his scent. Mingi must have scented the omega recently because he smelled almost just as much of cinnamon as he did of oranges. It was nice, and helped to soothe Seonghwa’s frazzled nerves.

He suddenly wished his whole group was here. A deep yearning to have his accumulated family around him settling in his chest. Knowing they all were around him and safe was just what he needed right now. They all were busy still though with their own schedules and wouldn’t be home for a while yet so Seonghwa just soaked in the comfort that he could from Yunho at the moment.

Hongjoong returned quickly with a glass of water, some pain killers, and an ice pack clumsily wrapped in a dishcloth. Seonghwa smiled a little as he took it from the alpha and rewrapped it more securely. He doesn’t think Hongjoong has ever had to do that before because it was always Seonghwa taking care of the others when they needed things like that.

He winced a little when he placed the ice pack on his wrist and then gratefully took the pills from Hongjoong and chugged most of the water. Hongjoong settled back into the couch next to Seonghwa and pressed a kiss to the omega’s forehead.

“You seem tired baby, why don’t you try to take a nap?” Hongjoong suggested.

Seonghwa made an uncertain noise and was about to reject but then Yunho was saying, “Yeah hyung, I’m still tired. Take a nap with me? Mingi isn’t home and it’s hard for me to sleep without someone else with me.”

Seonghwa turned and looked at the omega, who had his puppy dog face on full blast. Seonghwa felt his resolve breaking, the tall omega’s pouting face didn’t only make alphas crumble. He was truly too powerful for his own good. Plus, Seonghwa wasn’t very good at rejecting anything the younger ones asked of him.

“Sure, if you’re tired we can put something on and relax.” Seonghwa agreed. He tried to ignore the conspiratorial look Hongjoong and Yunho shared as he brought his legs up onto the couch, leaning back into Hongjoong’s arms and then letting Yunho sprawl across his legs.

Hongjoong flipped something random on the TV and before Seonghwa knew it, he was falling asleep between the two of them, feeling a little more settled than he had earlier. 

Seonghwa woke up as he was gently jostled from behind. He made a weak sound of protest and heard some shushing come from around the room. That set off his suspicious alarms and he pried his eyes open.

The first person he saw was a very guilty looking San above him holding a pillow. “Ah, sorry hyung, your head was just at a weird angle and I was trying to give you a pillow.” The alpha said sheepishly. Seonghwa blinked rapidly trying to understand the situation. 

“Where’s Hongjoong?” His voice came out raspy with sleep.

“He just went to make a call and grab the food delivery,” Yeosang’s voice came from across the room.

Seonghwa winced as he used his injured wrist to push himself up, looking around the room. Yunho was still sat next to him, looking like he’s been awake for a while, and Mingi was sitting next to him. Yeosang was in Jongho’s lap in the arm chair and Wooyoung was sitting alone in the loveseat as San offered Seonghwa the pillow. 

“I’ll go grab you some more ice hyung,” San said as he placed the pillow on Seonghwa’s lap and grabbed the icepack from him, then disappeared into the kitchen.

“When did you guys get home?” Seonghwa asked, scratching at his scalp, trying to wake the rest of the way up.

“Not too long ago. You, Yunho, and Hongjoong were all passed out on the couch. Hongjoong woke up first and let us know you’d had a… hard day.” Wooyoung answered, struggling to gently word the last part.

“Oh,” Seonghwa said flatly. “You guys don’t need to worry about me. Sorry I slept too long and didn’t make dinner.”

“You’re seriously apologizing for not making dinner?” Yeosang said, eyebrow raised.

“I mean, yeah, I usually-“ Seonghwa started, but Yeosang cut him off.

“Seonghwa I understand that you feel like you need to take care of all of us all the time but it’s okay to be taken care of sometimes too.” Yeosang stated, a gentle look on his face.

Seonghwa felt a deep blush rise onto his face. Taking care of others was second nature to Seonghwa, he loved it. Letting others take care of him was a whole different story. 

He felt his face settle into a frown. “I like taking care of you guys though.”

“No one said you didn’t. We are just saying that we like to take care of you too,” Wooyoung interjected.

“All of the omega’s here understand what it feels like to be in your situation right now. Let us be here for you,” Yunho said softly, resting his hand on Seonghwa’s knee. 

Seonghwa fought valiantly against the tears he felt forming in his eyes, but lost. Fat tears escaping down his cheeks. 

“Yah, what did you all say to him while I was gone?” Hongjoong said, fake irritated as he bustled into the room juggling several bags of food. The alpha quickly set down the bags and gathered Seonghwa into his arms, brushing tears from the omega’s cheeks.

“Nothing, we were just reminding him that we like to take care of him too. He doesn’t always have to be the one taking care of people.” Yeosang said.

San entered the living room and handed Seonghwa the ice pack and the omega gratefully took it and put it back onto his wrist which was still aching a little.

“Where did you order from?” Seonghwa warbled out, embarrassed at how much he sounded like he was crying. 

“That one chicken place that has the sauce you like,” Hongjoong replied, wiping the last of the tears from Seonghwa’s face. Seonghwa moved to start rifling through the bags, to set out everything on the table like he usually does but was quickly stopped by several people loudly objecting.

“Yah! Did you not listen to anything anyone just said!” Wooyoung exclaimed, snatching a bag out of Seonghwa’s reach. Seonghwa just paused and sighed heavily, leaning against Hongjoong as the others laid everything out and got it ready.

It also turned out that Seonghwa wasn’t allowed to feed himself because his wrist was hurt. So he just sat there as the others, mainly Hongjoong but Minigi or Wooyoung would occasionally slip him an extra bite, fed him. 

Seonghwa found himself relaxing as the familiar sounds of the members bickering and joking around with each other filled the room. Yeosang looked like a contented cat perched in Jongho’s lap being fed pieces of chicken. Yunho and Mingi were giggling loudly over some face Mingi was making that involved chopsticks shoved in his mouth. San and Wooyoung were arguing loudly about some incredibly inconsequential thing, teasing smiles on their face. 

Hongjoong was sat quietly behind Seonghwa, hugging the omega to his chest as he brought food to his mouth. He looked down and caught Seonghwa staring at him. He smirked playfully and said, “You see something you like?”

Seonghwa’s heart swelled with emotion. He was surrounded by his family who he loved so much and that he was so lucky to have love him in return.

“I just love you and everyone else so much,” Seonghwa thickly replied, feeling embarrassingly close to crying again.

Hongjoong’s face softened and he leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to the omega’s lips. “I love you too.”

“Hey! Didn’t you guys set the rule of no being gross on the couch!” Wooyoung exclaimed.

“Woo, that rule was explicitly set up because of you and San. Don’t even try me,” Hongjoong replied, one eyebrow raised. Wooyoung just scoffed.

Yunho leaned over and said quietly, “We all love you too hyung. Thanks for letting us take care of you.”

Seonghwa could only nod in acknowledgement and focus on eating the bite Hongjoong had just stuffed in his mouth because otherwise he would definitely cry again.

He was definitely one lucky omega.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this one! Turns out I'm just way too soft for Yunho to put him in any kind of seriously dangerous situation T.T I def meant for this work to be a little fluffier than it came out but oh well. 
> 
> I think the next fic im gonna work on is a highly requested one, what do y'all think that means? Let me know your guesses!
> 
> Thank you guys for your comments, kudos, and support!
> 
> Let me what you thought of this and if you liked it!
> 
> talk to me on tumblr @softhwas


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